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BOUNCE (PG-13)

Plot Summary: Overwhelmed by guilt after the plane he was supposed to be on crashes and kills the man who took his place, Buddy tries to make amends, falling in love in the process.

Reason for the Rating: Some language and sensuality.

BOUNCE has a lot going for it. The cast is excellent, lead by Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow. I admit, I had doubts about Affleck’s acting abilities, but he is quite convincing and does an excellent job in emotional scenes. Paltrow is wonderful as usual, and her two little sons in the movie are extremely cute.

The plot is also promising. Affleck plays Buddy, a conceited, womanizing ad representative who lands a major deal with Infinity Airlines. He is about to fly to LA on Infinity, when he decides to catch the next day’s flight instead. (He’d rather spend the night with a woman he barely knows.) He gives his ticket to Greg, who turns out to be Paltrow’s husband. The plane never makes it to LA. Greg dies in the crash, and Abby (Paltrow) is left to grieve alone. Buddy falls apart, unable to conquer his guilt over the fact that he should’ve been the one on that flight. A year later, he is ready to get his life back together and decides to find Abby and make amends for her loss. He doesn’t expect to fall in love.

As the story progresses, Buddy becomes a nicer person and he and Abby learn about loss, choices, and love. Everything seems wonderful, except for the fact that Buddy can’t bring himself to tell Abby why he contacted her in the first place. It’s no surprise that a relationship based on a lie will not remain perfect…but I won’t ruin it for you by telling you what happens next.

Unfortunately, the plot and acting aren’t enough to make BOUNCE a must-see movie. It aims high, but the screenplay just isn‘t cohesive. In the end it falls, bouncing just short of its mark. Maybe that’s why it’s called BOUNCE--it needs to hop just a little bit farther to succeed. Maybe it was supposed to recover from its mediocre middle and bounce back in the end. Maybe it’s called BOUNCE because the audience must bounce from one scene to the next without a whole lot of connecting emotion.

At any rate, BOUNCE is fine as a basic romantic movie, but the sexual scenes, strong language, homosexual characterizations, and rushed story line take away from the positive. It just doesn’t live up to the standard it sets for itself.

FamilyFans.com Recommends: With all the new movies out this holiday season, BOUNCE needn’t top your list.

After the Show…If members of your family choose to view this movie, use these questions to spark discussion about it afterward:

--How did the different characters handle their grief in the movie?

-- How might a relationship with God have been helpful for the characters as they dealt with their grief?

-- How important is honesty in a relationship? Why?

--AT

MovieFact: BOUNCE star Gwyneth Paltrow speaks four languages: English, Spanish, French, and Italian.

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